


Save the Date (for later)

by starbox



Series: Damian [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Damian Wayne Feels, Domestic Fluff, Gen, Implied Feelings that will lead somewhere in a few years time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 10:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbox/pseuds/starbox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone in the family is excited for Damian's first date. Everyone except Damian that is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Save the Date (for later)

**Author's Note:**

> A drabble in response to a friend saying "A Bat family member's first date!" It was supposed to be just everybody teasing Damian but, well, things happen.

    The fact that Damian staunchly refused to call it his First Date didn’t stop anyone else from doing so. If only so they could watch to see if his hair actually stood on end slightly when they said it. (It did.)  
    The time? That evening from six o’clock onward. The place? The Great Hall of the Gotham City Public Library, columns, parquet floors, and all. The event? A special Youth Charity Gala for the support of the city’s Boys and Girls Clubs. All the other Wayne wards were somehow busy that night-- _Conveniently so_ , thought Damian--so it had fell to the youngest Wayne to represent the whole family.  
    “I don’t understand why I have to take her though,” Damian repeated emphatically.  
    “Because you’re basically a good kid and because she asked you. And your father and hers are widely-known to be business partners,” replied Dick, as he held up  yet another tie to Damian’s light blue dress shirt. “Think of this like the feudal days, Damian. Because that’s basically what it is.”  
    “ _Tch_.”  
    “Aww come on, she’s cute and seems very sweet.”  
    “Why don’t you take her then?”  
    “I would. If she were a few years older. But as it stands, that would be treading dangerous waters.”  
    “You’re weird.” Damian arched a dark eyebrow at him.  
    “And you’re--”  
    There was a knock on the door and Tim stuck his head in.  
    “Drake, leave now,” ordered Damian.  
    Tim looked to Dick for approval.    
     “Come in, Timmy, but be nice.”  
    Tim slipped in and closed the door behind him. He commandeered Damian’s favorite beanbag chair. Damian glared bloody murder at him as he addressed Dick:       
    “So how late is he allowed out?”  
    “Bruce said that her parents want her back by eleven.”      
    “Hmph. That’s pretty late for a 13-year-old’s first date.”  
    “It’s. Not. A. Date.”  
    Tim and Dick smiled at each other over Damian’s head.  He vowed to make them regret that some day.  
    “Just as well, I suppose,” Tim said coolly. “Could you really handle it if it were?”  
    Damian smiled grimly. “Don’t even start down that road with me, Drake. Grayson’s let slip a few of your adventures in the dating world.”  
    Tim blanched slightly. “Dick!!”    
    Dick ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “Sorry, man. But I think I kept all the good stories to myself.”  
    “You mean they get better?!” exclaimed Damian.  
    “Dick, please!” squeaked Tim.  
    The eldest spread his arms placatingly. “Whoa, whoa. I’m not saying anything more about Tim’s dalliances so the two of you calm down.”  
    Damian crossed his arms over his chest tightly and Tim slumped back in the beanbag chair in relief.  
    “But regardless, I think Damian can handle himself,” suggested Dick. “After all, he has Bruce for a father and me for an example.”  
    “And what’s that supposed to mean precisely?” asked Damian.  
    “That you have levels of game you don’t even know about,” replied Dick with a serious face--a serious face that only lasted half a second after that line left his mouth.  
    “Yipes,” said Tim, as Dick laughed loudly. “That’s just terrifying actually.”  
    Damian opened his mouth to restore order to his kingdom when chaos itself entered his room: Stephanie burst through the door carrying some plastic flower boxes.  
    “I have the corsage! I can’t believe you dorks forgot to order these until this morning!”  
    “Thanks, Steph!” Dick took the boxes from her and checked their contents. He pulled out the boutonniere and Damian watched him pin it gently to the tuxedo jacket as it lay on the bed.  
    Stephanie grasped his shoulder. “How you feeling, Damian? Nervous? Excited? She’s so pretty! Like a princess!”  
    “Great...” sighed Damian. “Feudal indeed.”  
    “No, but really, are you nervous?” Stephanie asked, peering at his face.  
    “I’m quaking in my shoes,” he drawled. “I’ve been to parties before, at the Manor and other places. I’m fine.”  
    “But never as someone’s escort!” Stephanie insisted. “You have to make sure she has a great time, okay?”  
    Damian rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah...”  
    “You got this, Damian, I know you do.” She patted him on the back. “But be a gentleman or I’ll kick your ass.”  
    “Huh?”  
    “Keep your hands to yourself,” murmured Stephanie darkly.      
    “What?? Eww!”  
    Tim snorted--Damian was putting that on the record as a definite snort--and Dick starting laughing again.  
    “You guys,” Damian said loudly. “I’m not dating her. We’re in a couple advanced physics classes together. We see each other on the social circuit--What?”  
    “Social circuit? Ohmygosh, Damian, you’re such an old man!” said Stephanie gleefully.    
    “Okay, okay...” Dick said, making shooing motions with his hands.  
    Suddenly a slim shadow appeared in Damian’s open doorway. It was Cass, who smiled and gave Damian a thumbs-up. He half bowed in her direction. She disappeared just as Jason came up behind her. He leaned on the doorframe and grinned toothily.  
    Dick frowned and Damian saw his shoulders tighten. “Think carefully before you speak, Jay.”  
    Jason chuckled softly. “What? Worried about your baby? Remembering all the cougars that came after you when you wore the cape?”  
    Nobody moved. Damian was pretty sure Tim was postponing his breathing. _Wimp. What was Todd’s deal anyway?_  
    “Lighten up, Richard.” Jason stepped forward and smacked Damian on the back. “Have a blast, kid. You only get to do it once.”  
    Jason turned and left the room.  
    Dick sighed. “I hate to say it, but for once he’s not wrong...”  
    “He didn’t have to be such a jerk about it though,” pointed out Tim ( _a bit petulantly_ , thought Damian).       
    “Yeah, I totally thought he was going to say something awful too,” agreed Stephanie.  
    “Alright, enough distraction. Everybody out.”  
    That meant Tim and Stephanie so they said goodbye and wandered off together to the game room to play something Street Fighter-ish probably.  
    Dick moved a few books off Damian’s bed and sat down on it, motioning for Damian to join him.  
    “Grayson, for the love of--”  
    “ _Damian_.”  
    Damian’s arms were once more wrapped around himself as he sat next to Dick on the bed.  
    “Just be yourself,” Dick told him. “Don’t give me that look. You’re a master at dropping those one-liners that just kill people laughing. What I wouldn’t have given for that ability back in my day... Yeah, maybe you don’t like the puns and stuff so much, but you’re the straight man to everyone else’s fumbling around. You’re meant for the spotlight.”  
    “Now, I know you’re making stuff up, circus boy. I’m a ninja, remember?”  
    “Okay, good point. But as an actual circus performer to a regular old assassin-in-training, you are quite gifted. Don’t waste it.” Dick ruffled Damian’s hair. “Use that wit of yours and make her smile.”  
    Dick stood up and crossed to the door, while motioning toward the ties on the bed. “It’s up to you, but my suggestion is the silver and sapphire one.”  
    Damian nodded and Dick left the room. Damian dressed in an orderly manner and fussed with his hair in the mirror before deciding it was a hopeless cause and not worth the effort. He examined the corsage and found it surprisingly pretty. The boutonniere was not inelegant as well.  
    Tie in hand Damian wandered downstairs, finally finding Dick lounging on a library couch.  
    “Poetry, Grayson? Really?’  
    “Hey, I need all the help I can get if you clean up this well,” Dick replied in a voice that could only be labeled proud.  
    “Tie?” He held the blue and silver silk out to Dick, who took it and looped it around Damian’s neck swiftly.  
    “You know,” Dick said quietly. “It’s not really a date unless you decide it is.”  
    Damian looked up at him briefly, then down at the floor. “Oh?”  
    “Yep, that’s what the rules say. And I should know, shouldn’t I?”  
    “Hmm.”  
    “Looks good,” Dick said with a smile as he stepped back.  
    “Thanks,” mumbled Damian. He took an odd extra breath.  
    “What?”  
    “It’s just... Dates should be more than gala tickets and the media and tuxedoes. They should be _more_. So that’s why... that’s why it’s...”  
    “Not a date,” confirmed Dick. He leaned in slightly. “You’re really just a romantic, aren’t you? A man after my own heart.”  
    Damian flushed slightly. “Whatever, Grayson. I have to go.”  
    “Can’t keep the lady waiting.”  
    Damian turned on his heel and left the room.  
    “I’ll probably be up when you come back. Debrief later?” called Dick.  
    “Only if you have food,” came the reply.  
    “Whatever you say, boss.” Dick grabbed his book and continued reading.  
      
    _A Bird came down the Walk –  
    He did not know I saw – ..._

**Author's Note:**

> (The poem is "A Bird came down the Walk" (328) by Emily Dickinson. And normally Dickie doesn't read her stuff, but that particular poem makes him think of a certain headstrong, prickly Wayne.)


End file.
